U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Preservation Assistance Division
Washington, D.C.

NOTE: Although the work in these sections is quite often an
important aspect of rehabilitation projects, it is usually NOT part
of the overall process of preserving character-defining features
(maintenance, repair, replacement); rather, such work is assessed
for its potential negative impact on the building's historic
character. For this reason, particular care must be taken not to
obscure, radically change, damage, or destroy character-defining
features in the process of rehabilitation work to meet new use
requirements.

An illustrated booklet addressing the Secretary's Standards and the
guidelines is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office.
The title is "The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for
Rehabilitation & Illustrated Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic
Buildings", ISBN 0-16-035979-1.

Each of the guidelines included in the booklet mentioned above have
been separated into individual entries for specific use in HBPP.
This standard represents one of many guidelines included in the
booklet and describes RECOMMENDED and NOT RECOMMENDED applications
of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards as they relate to
Health and Safety Code Requirements. For a list of the Secretary
of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, see 01091-04-S; For
general information relating to the purpose, organization and
content of the individual guidelines, see 01091-05-S. Both of
these entries should be referenced along with the information
contained in this document.

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE REQUIREMENTS:

As a part of the new use, it is often necessary to make
modifications to a historic building so that it can comply with
current health, safety and code requirements. Such work needs to
be carefully planned and undertaken so that it does not result in
a loss of character-defining spaces, features, and finishes.

1. Recommended:

- Identifying the historic buildings' character-defining
spaces, features, and finishes so that
code-required work
will not result in their damage or loss.

Not Recommended:

- Undertaking code-required alterations to
a building or
site before identifying those spaces,
features, or
finishes which are character-defining
and must therefore
be preserved.

2. Recommended:

- Complying with health and safety code, including
seismic
codes and barrier-free access requirements,
in such a
manner that character-defining spaces,
features, and
finishes are preserved.

Not Recommended:

- Altering, damaging, or destroying character-defining
spaces, features, and finishes while
making modifications
to a building or site to comply with
safety codes.

3. Recommended:

- Working with local code officials to investigate
alternative life safety measures or
variances available
under some codes so that alterations
and additions to
historic buildings can be avoided.

Not Recommended:

- Making changes to historic buildings without
first
seeking alternatives to code requirements.

4. Recommended:

- Providing barrier-free access through removable
or
portable, rather than permanent, ramps.

- Providing seismic reinforcement to a historic
building in
a manner that avoids damaging the structural
system and
character-defining features.

Not Recommended:

- Reinforcing a historic building using measures
that
damage or destroy character-defining
structural and other
features.

6. Recommended:

- Upgrading historic stairways and elevators
to meet health
and safety codes in a manner that assures
their
preservation, i.e., so that they are
not damaged or
obscured.

Not Recommended:

- Damaging or obscuring historic stairways
and elevators or
altering adjacent spaces in the process
of doing work to
meet code requirements.

7. Recommended:

- Installing sensitively designed fire suppression
systems,
such as a sprinkler system for wood
frame mill buildings,
instead of applying fire-resistant sheathing
to
character-defining features.

Not Recommended:

- Covering character-defining wood features
with fire-
resistant sheathing which results in
altering their
visual appearance.

8. Recommended:

- Applying fire-retardant coatings, such as
intumescent
paints, which expand during fire to
add thermal
protection to steel.

Not Recommended:

- Using fire-retardant coatings if they damage
or obscure
character-defining features.

9. Recommended:

- Adding a new stairway or elevator to meet
health and
safety codes in a manner that preserves
adjacent
character-defining features and spaces.

Not Recommended:

- Radically changing, damaging or destroying
character-
defining spaces, features, or finishes
when adding a new
code-required stairway or elevator.

10. Recommended:

- Placing a code-required stairway or elevator
that cannot
be accommodated within the historic
building in a new
exterior addition. Such an addition
should be located at
the rear of the building or on an inconspicuous
side; and
its size and scale limited in relationship
to the
historic building.

Not Recommended:

- Constructing a new addition to accommodate
code-required
stairs and elevators on character-defining
elevations
highly visible from the street; or where
it obscures,
damages or destroys character-defining
features.